Method of manufacturing decorative woods



April 16, 1935. M. E, MILLER METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DECORATIVE WOODSFiled Jan. 27, 1934 7 2L 37 25 CONCRETE 26 ASPHAL INVENTOR MartinZZMillew;

WITNESS ATTORNE Patented Apr. 16, 1935 4 r v i UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DECORATIVE WOODS Martin E. Miller, NewYork, N. Y. Application January 2'7, 1934, Serial No. 708,685

4 Claims. (01. 4135) This invention relates toamethod of manufactures ofthe invention as expressed in the apturing decorative Woods for buildingor cabinet pended claims.

purposes as described and claimed in applicants In the drawing:

earlier application Serial 'No. 341,460, filed Feb. Figure -l is a planView showing a decorated 5 20, 1929; board formed by my new and improvedprocess, .5

An object of the invention is the provision of Figure 2 is a transversesection of one form of a process of treating woods which either have theinvention taken along the line 2-2 of Figpockets formed thereinmechanically or formed ure 1,

by fungus or bacterial action, in the last case Figure 3 is afragmentary vertical section of the pockets being exposed to view whenthe logs the decorative .wood showing the method of se- 10 are cutacross the grain to form boards, a Watercuring strips of wood together,I proofing coating being applied to the surface of Figure 4 is afragmentary vertical section showthe board after the surfaces of theboards have ing a modified formof a method of securing strips beensanded down or otherwise treated to pro of the decorative wood together,and

vide a smooth surface, said pockets being then Figure5 is afragmentaryvertical section show- 15 filled with a plastic cement which willharden, ing another modification of the form shown in the surface ofthewood togetherwith the cementi- Fig. 4. 1 tious filling in the pocketsbeing ground down Referring more particularly to the drawing, to form asmooth surface which is treated in H), .ll, [2 and l3 designate sectionsof a piece :0 any well known manner to provide a highly polof wood,preferably cypress, which have been ished covering. set into a piece ofwood I 4 and held in place in A. further object of the invention is theprosaid wood by a cement, designated at l5. This Vision O method offorming inlays inpock ts cement may be formed of any of the well knownin wood in which the pockets are either formed ingredients for t purposeand may onsjstnf y bacterial t i fQ St a th y manual suchelements asmagnesite, putty, gluefilsaw dusti 25 means, an essen ia ea ure of eprocess conasbestos, sand, iron, or steel chips or ings an S s of piding the surface of the wood with various types of finely dividedparticles of wood a waterproof coating, removing extraneous mat- Cementis frequently used for certain types of tell m the p ,fi filling the pck W h work. Any ofthe well known products for filla cementitiousmaterial while preventing the'ma ing holes in wood now on market may beem- 30 terials from co g n d ct Co c w th h ployed for the purpose. Thecement is suitably surface. colored to give a variety of effects incolors or A still further object of the invention is the design, vprovision of a method of forming inlays and The type of wood selectedbelongs to that class pockets in pieces of wood which are filled with-awhich has longitudinal passages running for por- 35 cementitiousmaterial with the pieces of wood tions of h length of the trunk aWhi'Chare being connected together along their complenormallyfilled-With fi y granulated amentary edges .by a hardened cementitiousterial caused by the destructive action of bacterial fillingcomplementarily disposed undercut terla However, I preler employ 4Ogrooves in the juxtaposed side'edges of the pieces i fll 312 2 a g c affungu 40 of wood when fitted. to eherso that the hardac er 9 Tee as'reace an age 01 ened material will oper at e. to secure'the piecesappmximately one hundred and mfs yearsof wood together While the outerexposed pori f are W f'P g i fi 9 3 tion of the hardened material in thegroove will 33 2 32 35 g h g ggg g f 3:2;

acgzotio provide further. decorative elements in the rial After the Woodhas been cut across the I Y b b t d t d f grain and has been sanded downa coating of 1s mven ion Wl e es un ers o0 'Q hellac or other waterproofsubstance is applied i of the folowmjg detallefl descnp' to the surfaceof the wood before and after the 0' {510mm f f accompalilyulg dra'Wmgformf pockets or passages are cleaned of the foreign b S 1 io ary a inFig. Af er e wa erproof confined t0 disclfisjllre, P Bil-506131311016 Ofcoating has been applied to the surface and desuch changes andmodificatlons which shall defines the peripheries of the ends of thepassages fine no material departure from the salient feaopening mtoopposite faces of the board,. the

foreign material is removed by means of blowing, washing, or by anyother means well known in the art. Particular attention is paid to theremoval of the material in order that the walls of the passages orpockets which may be formed in the wood are thoroughly cleaned and givena hard surface.

The passages or pockets formed in the wood are then filled with theplastic material which has been previously described and care is takenthat the plastic material fits in the passages in such a manner that theouter ends of the passages will be entirely filled in to provide for acontinuous surface at opposite faces of the boards. The waterproofcoating such as shellac or an oil preparation which has been applied tothe outer faces of the boards prevents staining or marring of the woodduring the application of the cements and acts as a protective coatingto prevent the cement from coming in contact with the surface and 1 toprevent the wood from absorbing moisture. The cement is allowed to dryto a certain extent and is then scraped off and the whole surface of theboard is sanded or rubbed down to sanded down in order to remove theapplication of the waterproof coating which has been applied for thepurpose of preventing marring of the surface of the board.

The waterproofing is used at all times to protect the materials againstthe absorption of moisture in the construction of floors, furniture andall architectural Woodwork for use inside and outside.

I have shown in the drawing a form in which sections of the cypress havebeen removed from the cross cuts and inserted within the board l4. Itwill be appreciated that in the manufacture of fioors and furniture theboards themselves may be cut in strips after having been filled with thecement and applied directly in position without the use of the frameshown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the application of the cement to the passages a great deal of care isexercised in the proper selection of colors in order to provide for auniform design and for harmony.

In those cases shown in Figs. 1 and 2 where it is desired to cut out aportion of the affected wood, as illustrated at Ill, H, l2, and [3, suchpieces of wood are cut to'a definite shape and arranged to form auniform design after which they are set in a cement background with thecement appearing at the peripheries, as indicated at l5. This cement iscolored in order to conform to the coloring of, the pieces of wood It!to 13, inclusive, and also to conform to the coloring of the fillers 2!in the pockets l6.

While I have stated that the logs may be cut transversely or across thegrain, varied effects may be had by cutting the log longitudinally or inother words, sawing the board from thelength of the log in the usualmanner. The cutting of the boards in this method will produce elongatedpassages and will, therefore, give a difierent effect from thatwhere thelogs are cut across grain.

The surface of the decorative woods, as shown at 22, is treated withshellac or varnish suitable for the purpose or a specially preparedwaterproof oil.

The wood is secured to a base member 23 in any approved manner.

In the form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the method of filling the passages [5which have been cleaned out after bacterial destruction are filled withthe cementitious material, as shown at 2!, and strips of material, asshown at M are connected together along adjacent edges which are neatlytrimmed so that there will be a snug fit.

In Fig. 3 a pair of complementary grooves 25 are formed in the sideedges 25 and these grooves are provided with undercut portions, as shownat 2?, which extend in opposite directions from the alined edges 25 ofthe strips of wood it A cementitious material of substantially the sametype as is used in filling the transverse passages 2| in the stripsofwood is compactly filled into the grooves 23 and the undercut portions28 and permitted to harden so that the strips are connected together bythe undercut groove formed by the complementary grooves in the sideedges of the strips M The outer surface of the strips of wood aretreated in the same manner as has been previously described and a thincoating of waterproofing material is applied to the side walls of thegrooves l8 and the undercut portions 2? in order to prevent any coloringmatter which is used in the cementitious material from staining the woodwhere it is exposed to view and to prevent the wood from absorbingmoisture. After the outer surface of the connected pieces of wood havebeen properly finished, a coating of shellac or varnish, as shown at 22,is applied.

The construction shown in Figure 4 is substan tially identical with thatshown in Fig. 3 but a reinforcing member 30 having a centrally disposedopening is located in the undercut portions 2'5 of the groove 26 and apin 3| is driven through the centrally disposed passage in thereinforcing member 30 until the head 32 of the pin rests upon thereinforcing member 30. When the pin is forced downwardly it penetratesthe base member 23 and aids in securing the strips H together inconnection with a hardened cementitious material 28 which is filled inthe grooves 26 of the undercut portions 21 of the grooves. Thus it willbe seen that the head 32 of the pin 3! and the reinforcing member 30 isimbedded in the cementitious material.

The cementitious material need not be filled to the extreme upper end ofthe complementary groove 26, as shown at 29, so that if desired thesurface of the pieces I l of the wood may be planed sufliciently tobring it into the same plane with the upper end of the cementitiousmaterial. As has been explained, a coating of shellac or varnish isapplied to the outer finished surface.

It will be seen by this modified form that the hardened cementitiousmaterial in the grooves in the side edges of the piece of wood not onlyaid in binding the strips of wood together but add further decoration tothe surface of the wood. 7

While I have described the wood employed as being preferably cypress, itwill be appreciated that many other types of wood may be employed. Anywood that splits or that has open knots caused by air or kiln drying maybe used and the split portions and open knots may be filled in themanner described above. Old floors may be refinished and where thepieces of flooring have separated at the joints or are otherwisedefective caused by drying out of the lumber, may be treated in a mannerdescribed above so that when the separated joints are filled up with thecement and properly treated they will present an antique finish nomatter what the type of wood was employed in the floors.

In Fig. 5 is shown a further modified form of the invention in which thewood is shown at Hi and provided with an undercut groove filled with thecementitious material described above after the sides of the groove havebeen lined with a shellac, a varnish, or a specially treated oil toprevent the absorption of moisture from the cement.

Before the cement is applied to the groove, nails are driven through themember N and into the base member 23, as shown at 35. The heads 36 ofthese nails are located at the bottom of the groove and are hidden bythe cement 29.

In Fig. 3 the flooring or other type of decoration is laid upon anasphalt base 38 and this asphalt is supported by a cement floor or basemember 37.

I claim:

1. The method of manufacturing decorative woods which comprises cuttingwood across the grain into lengths, the wood before being-cut havinglongitudinal passages partially filled with matter formed from thebacterial destruction of the wood, grinding down the surfaces of thelengths of the wood, applying a waterproofing coat to the surface of thewood while defining the peripheries of the openings at opposite ends ofthe passages, then removing foreign material fromthe passages, fillingthe pockets with a cementitious material which will harden andthereafter grinding down and polishing the entire surface of the lengthsof wood including the cement filled in the pockets and the waterproofingcoat.

2. The method of manufacturing decorative woods which comprisesselecting thosetypes of wood which have been acted upon by bacteria orfungus to provide passages, sawing such wood into pieces ofboard so thatthe passages thus formed will be exposed to view through opposite facesof the boards, applying a waterproofing coat to the opposite faces ofthe boards, thoroughly cleaning said passages to remove foreignmaterial, filling the pockets with a cementitious ma terial which willharden and thereafter grinding the surface of the wood and the exposedsurface of the cementitious material and then applying finishing coatsto the surface of the wood and the exposed cementitious material.

3. The method of manufacturing decorative woods which comprises formingpassages in a pluralityof pieces of wood, the passages being disposedtransversely of the wood, filling said passages with a cementitiouscomposition which will harden, forming complementary undercut groovesalong similar edges of the pieces of wood so that when said edges areplaced in juxtaposition a unitary undercut groove is provided, thenfilling said groove with a cementitious composition which will harden toform with the filled transverse passages a decorative surface ofirregular design.

4. A decorative wood comprising pieces of wood joined together alongfitted edges, the pieces where fitted together having complementaryundercut grooves of regular design opening into each other and throughthe outer surface of the pieces, the pieces of wood also havinglongitudinal passages cf irregular design formed by bacterialdestruction, the grooves and passages having a filling of cementitiousmaterial which when hardened will secure the pieces together and providea decorative surface for the wood.

MARTIN E. MILLER.

